The Way We Were
by LGCoffeeAddict
Summary: Nancy/Robert. Why did men think that annoying a woman to hell was going to get her to fall head over heels for them? Why were they always right? CHAPTER 3 UP!
1. Chapter 1

**The Way We Were**

An **Enchanted** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: The only **Enchanted** thing I own would by my lovely DVD from Target...and the ticket stubs (from seeing it in theaters twice).

Chapter 1: Meetings

Nancy Tremaine was nothing if not specific.

She knew exactly what she wanted in everything. Her food, her designs, her hair. _Especially_ her men.

But this man threw it all out the window.

Robert Philip was cocky, successful, had the makings of a true ass. And an _annoyingly_ dazzling smile. How could she concentrate when all she could think about was how he bugged her? How he _knew_ he was good-looking? How he _knew_ he got on her nerves?

Why did men think that annoying a woman to hell was going to get her to fall head over heels for them?

Why were they always _right_?

"Damn you, Robert!" Nancy declared, crumpling up yet another disgustingly generic design. She couldn't concentrate. He just made her so _furious_!

"What's he done now?" her sister, Maggie, sighed, not really paying that much attention.

"Lived to see another day," Nancy pouted. "He comes into my studio every day and stares at the suits for an hour before he makes inappropriate comments to my saleswomen and leaves without buying anything."

"He's harassing your staff?" Maggie asked, incredulous.

"No, not _harassing_. It's not harassment if they enjoy it, right?" Nancy flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. "Ugh, can you just chop all my hair off?"

"Geez, he's really got you wound up," her sister laughed, moving to brush Nancy's hair, soothing her.

"No, he just monopolizes my staff and renders them useless. They go all doe-eyed for him as soon as he steps through the door."

"Has he made a pass at you yet?" Maggie continued to brush her sister's waist length hair.

Nancy bit her lip, remembering that first time he walked into her studio...

_"Welcome to Nancy Tremaine Studios," Nancy greeted as a ridiculously gorgeous man entered the store. "How can I help you?"_

_"There are many ways you can help me, Ms. Tremaine," the man remarked, winking. A twinkle sparkled in his eyes as he flashed her a crooked smile._

_Nancy brushed it off. She was used to it. "How did you know who I was?"_

_He started browsing the store, seemingly uninterested. "Your picture was in a magazine. 'Top 10 Hottest HOTTEST Designers' or something like that."_

_She couldn't help but laugh. "Two things. One, why did you say it twice?"_

_"It was like the hottest as in most in demand and hottest as in best looking," the guy said. "You were number one, by the way. In case you were wondering."_

_"Was I really?" She was skeptical about that._

_He eyed her up and down. "Nah, you were number three, but I decided I didn't agree with the judges." Nancy tried to stifle a giggle. This was quite a unique way of hitting on women. "What was number two?"_

_"Why were you reading something that had 'Top 10 Hottest HOTTEST Designers' in the first place?"_

_"Waiting room."_

_So that conversation was dead. Nancy turned back to business. "So, anything I can help you find?"_

_"A date for Saturday night?" he said it as smoothly as if her were asking for a gray suit._

_"Certainly, we--" Nancy cut off, glaring at him. "You didn't come here just to hit on me, did you?"_

_"Of course not," he scoffed. "I also came here to hit on your staff if you said no. Which you didn't."_

_"Yes I did!"_

_"And I quote--Certainly, we--and then you did that cute little glower you're throwing at me right now."_

_The glower intensified. "You may make your selection, purchase it, and leave." She started to walk away, but he stopped her with a snide comment._

_"So I didn't know this was a _prostitution ring_," he drawled. "But very well. What's your asking price?"_

_Nancy whipped around and smacked him. "Don't you _dare_ say something like that to me again. Please leave." She tried to leave again, but this time he caught her wrist._

_"The name's Robert, by the way," he introduced in a surprisingly apologetic manner. His open, kind eyes threw Nancy off balance. He let go of her wrist and walked out the door, leaving Nancy standing, stunned, in front of the studio._

"No, he hasn't hit on me yet," Nancy lied. That was too messy a story to go into with her older sister.

"Jealous?" Maggie laughed.

"Of that pig? That would be so cliche it would induce vomiting."

**A/N: So what do you think? This is sort of setting the scene, but as you can see this is going to be a Nancy/Robert fic. Review please!**


	2. Forced Date

**The Way We Were**

An **Enchanted** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: The only **Enchanted** thing I own would by my lovely DVD from Target...and the ticket stubs (from seeing it in theaters twice).

Chapter 2: Forced dates

**A/N: BTW sorry for some perceived slip-ups in grammar. Ever since I've been in Journalism, I write in AP Style without realizing it. Like instead of "1, 2, and 3" it's "1, 2 and 3"and stuff like that. ANYWAY, I'm glad you like this story, so keep the reviews coming! BTW, Morgan isn't in this fic, not that I don't love her. I just couldn't write Robert like this if he had a daughter.**

"Hey, Marie, what time is it?" Nancy asked as she reached over the counter to get a notebook. But someone behind her answered instead of the assistant manager.

"Ah, now I could get used to this," sounded the cocky voice of Robert. She didn't even have to straighten and turn to know he had that lustful haze in his eyes.

"It's two thirty already?" Nancy whined, still bent over the counter, no doubt giving Robert an eyeful of her behind. All of a sudden, she wished she wasn't wearing her flippy skirt. Overalls would have been more like it.

"Come on, you know you wait for two thirty so you can see me," Robert teased, making no secret of the fact that he was ogling the designer of the studio. Nancy could practically hear the desire in his voice.

She straightened, still not turning to him. Instead she looked down at the notebook in her hand. "When you're quite done drooling, you may go about your usual routine," she declared.

"I hate that I've settled into a routine," Robert complained. "It's so _boring_. I like challenges."

Nancy finally faced him, her soft raven curls swaying with the motion, and regarded the man with her piercing eyes. _God_, Robert thought, _she's breathtaking_.

"Then what are you going to do today? Actually buy something?"

"I actually did intend to take something out," he admitted. Nancy's eyes climbed to her hairline.

"Really? What?" As an answer, Robert bent over and picked Nancy up, fireman style. "What the hell are you doing?!" Nancy's voice was frantic. If there was ever a way to encourage your staff to disrespect you, _this_ was it. "Put me down!"

"I'm making good on that date you agreed to, and I will not," he stated as he walked out into the streets of New York City and hailed a cab.

"What date? ROBERT PHILIP PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Nancy hollered at the top of her lungs. He just chuckled.

"When we first met. I asked for a date on Saturday night and you said 'certainly.' Just stay still and enjoy the view, unless you'd rather we both broke a few bones."

Nancy grumbled under her breath and refused to look at Robert's unsurprisingly nice butt while he waited for the cabbie to open the door, since his hands were otherwise occupied.

"Watch your head," he said softly as he loaded her into the cab.

"I think it'd be wiser if you watched yours," Nancy retorted, fuming. He closed the door and whispered the destination in the cabbie's ears. "Where the hell are you taking me?"

He didn't answer. "I'm surprised you haven't slapped me yet. You seem to enjoy doing that."

"I'm just waiting until I have enough room to really put my weight into it." He laughed again, though she was being completely serious. "Seriously, where are you taking me?" she asked after a minute.

"Somewhere where you can't run away from me."

"What's your need to take me out?" She looked directly into Robert's green eyes, startled by their clarity. He seemed...normal, almost.

"Because you fascinate me."

Ouch.

"I _fascinate_ you?" Nancy repeated, incredulous. "Like I'm some sort of animal at the zoo? I'm not the most private person by far, but I'm certainly no exhibitionist! That's the most perverse thing I have ev--!"

She was cut off by a sudden feeling of ecstasy. Her eyes drifted shut as she snaked her arms around Robert's neck, bringing him closer to her. He was such an _amazing_ kisser!

He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and suddenly Nancy was floating, adrenaline making her heart race. She'd never felt something so mindblowingly wonderful. She kissed back with just as much fervor.

_Honk!_

The two flew apart at the abrupt sound, looking at the incensed cabbie, who had the door open. "NO MAKING OUT IN MY CAR!" he screamed, kicking them out of the car and driving off.

Of course, the two minutes it took for the guy to eject them and drive off were definitely enough for Nancy to realize just _what_ happened. Those two minutes were enough for her eyes to widen, her face to flush and her breath to quicken.

_Shit._

"Nancy?" Robert was looking at her, concern evident in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Her mind refused to function, but her tear glands seemed more than happy to take its place. She could feel them starting to well up in her eyes, the familiar balloon of air threatening to pop in her chest.

Nancy looked at Robert with her teary emerald eyes, her face threatening to break. She couldn't breath. She could only fixate on the fact that she'd just _made out with Robert Philip._

What was worse.

She wanted to do it again.

"I..." was all she could get out before she crumpled into him, sobbing into chest. She clung to his shirt in a death grip, afraid she would lose herself even more completely if she let go.

Nancy never remembered sitting down, but she didn't really care. She just cried. And cried.

And cried some more.

The tears wouldn't stop.

Nancy ignored the sounds of the traffic, of the people stopping to ask Robert if she was alright, of everything but _him_.

That one other man who had made her feel that way when he kissed her.

She heard his deep, rich laugh, saw his ready smile, felt his warm caress. She indulged in his kisses. The ones that made her go as doe-eyed as her saleswomen did over Robert.

She heard his lullaby he always sang for her when she was upset.

_Her _lullaby.

_Edward_.

He always kissed her like that, thorough and sudden. To shut her up.

Robert hummed to her, his own lullaby that slowly quieted her sobs. He continued to hum even after she had stopped. Her hold on his shirt never faltered, and he never stopped hugging her.

**A/N: Okay, so you can visibly see where I changed moods but I think I still like this, so please review and tell me what you think.**


	3. A Tragic Tale

**The Way We Were**

An **Enchanted **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: The only **Enchanted **thing I own would by my lovely DVD from Target...and the ticket stubs (from seeing it in theaters twice).

Chapter 3: A Tragic Tale

**A/N: Wow. This story is new enough that I completely forgot it existed....my bad.**

Thirty minutes later, when Robert's shirt was still quite damp, Nancy finally straightened and wiped her flushed cheeks, looking Robert in the eye.

"Sorry," she whispered, a little hoarse after the sob-fest.

Robert tucked some hair behind her ear. "It's okay," he replied softly. His eyes were filled with concern as he looked at her as if she was so fragile she would break if he was anything more than gentle with her. "You want to talk about it?" He looked around him and spotted a cafe across the street. "We can go to that cafe and talk or not talk," he suggested. "Whatever you want."

"A coffee would actually be great," Nancy said. Robert helped her up and they walked over to the cafe in silence. Nancy never even noticed Robert's arm around her waist, holding her close.

When the two sat down at a table, Nancy's cheeks flushed. "I guess you got your date," she murmured sullenly. "You always have to win, don't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Robert joked. Nancy even let out a little chuckle, her lips curving into a small smile. "So..."

The brunette looked at him, her green eyes full of sadness and nostalgia. "The way you kissed me, out of the blue to shut me up. That's how he used to kiss me."

"Who?" Robert moderated his tone, even though he hated the fact that he wasn't the only one who'd kissed her like that. But why should he be jealous that he wasn't the only to kiss her? When you look like _that_you're bound to have everybody drooling over you. He snapped back to the present.

"My ex-fiancé, Edward," Nancy answered. "He was the kindest man you'd ever meet; he always went into everything with his heart instead of his head." Her eyes were no longer focused on Robert, but instead some faraway place down memory lane. "He and I were together for two years before he proposed to me. And then he--," Nancy stopped short as tears threatened to pour out her eyes again. She grabbed hold of Robert's hand, resting on the table, and squeezed it tight. "He disappeared a month before the wedding last year, and I got a call from him a week later saying that he was sorry, but his parents had already arranged for him to get married." She sniffed. "He was calling me from his honeymoon. He said he couldn't have married me knowing his parents did not approve, so he married Giselle." Her cheeks had freshly lain trails of tears down them by the time she finished.

Robert didn't know what to say. He sat across from the most beautiful woman he'd ever met who carried this unbearable sadness around with her wherever she went. He moved his chair so he was sitting next to her and let her resume crying in his shirt. He sung her his lullaby again, rocking her back and forth. She recovered much quicker this time, wiping her cheeks and staring into her coffee.

"Do you remember Katherine Heigl's wedding?" Nancy asked. Robert nodded. "The dress she wore...It was the dress I had designed for my wedding. I couldn't look at it anymore, so I sold it. That was the dress that got me so much publicity." Nancy laughed, a cold, dead laugh. "Probably what got me in that magazine you read."

Robert rubbed her shoulders, trying his hardest to comfort her. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I would never have imagined that you would have to live with something like that."

She turned to look at him. "I've never told anybody this before," she confessed. "I just sort of told myself I was over him, but I don't know that I was until now."

"You're over him?" Robert's eyebrows shot up. "Just like that?"

"I'd never cried about it except when he called. I never let myself stop to think about it." Nancy smiled, a genuine, happy smile. "I guess there's only one way to test it, isn't there?"

"What way is that?" the man asked.

In answer, Nancy slowly closed the space between them and kissed him softly. It was nothing like the passionate kiss they'd shared in the cab. This was sweet and comforting. Her hands made their way up to Robert's neck, gently pulling him closer to her, as his rested on her back.

When Nancy pulled away, she had a sweet smile on her face. "I guess that answers my question."

**8D**

Robert walked Nancy to the door of her penthouse apartment, holding her by the waist again with her head nestled in his shoulder. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected her to warm up to him so quickly, but now that she had, he felt an odd sort of protectiveness over her. He a vow to himself he wasn't going to hurt her like Edward had.

"Thank you, Robert," Nancy whispered as she finally raised her head from his shoulder to unlock her door. "Would you like to come in?"

"Are you sure?" Robert asked. "We're not going too fast?" He couldn't help but think Nancy was putting up a front about being over Edward.

"Well, I would say it was just for coffee, but since we just got coffee, that point is moot," Nancy laughed softly. "So, do you want to come in and just hang out?"

"I'd like that, yeah," Robert replied.

He waited patiently for her to unlock the door to her luxurious Manhattan apartment. After she hung up their coats, she gae him a tour of the place. She showed him the living room, the kitchen she never used, the bay window she fell asleep on sometimes, and the many bedrooms. Each bedroom had something different about them. There were four rooms, and each room had a different season painted on the walls. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall.

"I can never decide which room I like best," she explained as she got two glasses and a wine bottle, "so I just sleep in whichever one suits my mood at the time." She collapsed on the couch next to Robert and opened the wine.

"So which room will it be tonight?" Robert prompted after taking a sip of Merlowe.

Nancy thought for a second. "I think it will be the Spring Room, tonight," she smiled. Robert just watched her smile for those few seconds before taking both their wine glasses and placing them on the coffee table in front of them. "What are you doing?" Nancy asked. "I was drinking that." As she leaned forward to retrieve her wine once more, Robert took a gentle hold of her face and kissed her.

Maybe it was the emotional rollercoaster ride they had both been through that day, or maybe it was the slight intoxication of the wine that affected them more than it should have, but Nancy soon found herself lying on her back on the suede couch, kissing Robert for all she was worth. Robert was slowly, tantalizingly working on the buttons of her shirt.

And then finally, the shirt hit the floor.

**A/N: I'm SO SORRY it has been like nine months since I updated this fic! I FEEL AWFUL! I hope this chapter is up to par, and the next chapter will be probably just as emotional, so brace yourselves!**


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